Wedotv aiming for Global expansion, supported by Magnite and SpringServe

Following a rebrand of several of its AVOD (ad-supported video on demand) services, Video Solutions is aiming to take its new combined offering global, supported by Magnite and SpringServe.

In April 2022, Video Solutions AG, the media company that owns and operates AVOD channels Watch4 and W4Free, rebranded the services under one name – Wedotv – to combine resources and simplify their offering as they go international. We spoke to Philipp Rotermund, CEO at Video Solutions, to find out more about the rebrand and what it means for the future of their AVOD services.

Can you give us a brief overview on Wedotv and the kind of content you offer?

Wedotv is an advertiser-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) portal in the UK, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. In addition to a large selection of movies and series, we offer viewers exciting documentaries as well as a variety of content from the lifestyle, comedy and automotive sectors. Wedotv is available on streaming devices like Roku, Apple TV, Samsung Smart devices and Amazon Fire TV; smartphone platforms like Android and iOS; cable providers like Netgem TV, Metrological; and directly on the web at www.wedotv.com.

What were the reasons behind the recent rebrand to Wedotv?

With two different brands – W4free in the UK and watch4 for the German speaking countries – the effort in maintaining two websites, two apps etc was immense. Furthermore, all marketing activities were planned almost separately since we had two different brands to promote. With one brand, all activities pay into the one brand, making our global expansion more seamless.

How does the rebrand impact Wedotv’s AVOD proposition?

Part of the strategy to combine our AVOD brands was to streamline the underlying processes in order to simplify and strengthen our ad offerings, and maximize efficiencies and growth opportunities. To do this, we decided to adopt a solution that combines Magnite’s programmatic infrastructure with SpringServe’s ad serving platform and tools, which will stand us in good stead as we look to expand internationally.

What does a combined SSP and ad server offer you?

Before we used Springserve, we worked with a different SSP in individual markets and for individual products such as our FAST Channels or the VoD offerings. With the migration to Springserve and Magnite, we will have all our inventory in one place, so we can easily monitor its performance, and will be able to react quickly to changes.

Ultimately, it’s always easier to work with one provider rather than many – making the account setup more efficient than before, and easier for us to manage multiple demand sources from one platform. We can also better implement unified decisioning to control how our demand sources compete to ensure that we always achieve the optimal ad set that pleases the buyer whilst providing a quality user experience to the end user.

What is it specifically about SpringServe’s ad serving solution that originally attracted Video Solutions to work with us?

We had been searching for a holistic ad serving solution for quite a while. Springserve is the solution which is able to connect us to the programmatic world of advertising as well as enable classic I/O campaigns across all platforms on which our inventory is made available. Which means we are not limited to online video, or VOD advertising, but we are also able to sell ads dynamically on our linear offerings around the globe. Besides the great functionalities of SpringServe, we are also extremely happy and satisfied by the level of dedication and support from the SpringServe team.

What are the short term and long term goals for Wedotv?

Wedotv aims to become the main provider of curated free films, television and sports across the world whilst remaining completely free. Doing so whilst continuing to expand globally means having a reliable international tech provider that knows the business well, which is why we chose Magnite and SpringServe. In the short term, we will of course promote our brand in our key territories, but mid to long term we want to roll out our service globally and launch additional thematic FAST channels across all territories. For this we need a tech provider that can work internationally as well and that’s what we have found with Magnite and SpringServe.